Evaluation of menstrual characteristics in students of Isfahan universities

Introduction: Menstrual cycle is a physiological process in the life cycle of a woman and its characteristics and symptoms are a sign of her reproductive health. According to this fact that menstrual cycle characteristics vary among different communities , this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of symptoms and characteristics of the cycle in Iranian female students.
Method and Materials: For conducting this cross-sectional descriptive study in 2010, a random sample
including 601 female students of Isfahan University and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were recruited. Data was collected through a researcher made questionnaire. The data was analyzed to determine mean, standard deviation, and frequency using SPSS software version 20.
Results: In the study, the average age of subjects was 20.86 with a standard deviation of 0.9. Furthermore, 83% were single and 17% were married. Menarche age was 13.7±1.3 years and the average duration of menstrual bleeding was 6.45±1.2 days and the mean interval between menstrual cycles was 27.3±5.7 days. The most common symptom was dysmenorrhea followed by feeling weak, irritability and crying, withdrawal symptoms, aggression and anger.
Conclusions: Dysmenorrhea, emotional and mood changes were the most common symptoms in female
students. Accordingly, education and conducting interventions to reduce these symptoms and to improve the quality of life can be helpful and these are recommended.